Revenge Can Be Deadly
by Shinigami Lupin
Summary: [Under Heavy Revision] A clueless murder case involving a lawyer suddenly gets very interesting. note: the gang is not in first chapter in this story. Entire story involves several of my original characters.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Revenge Can Be Deadly- Chapter 1  
Author: AngelGirl28 (AlexSloan@paxemail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: Here we go. I don't own Diagnosis Murder. I didn't get permission to use the characters. And I'm not making any money off of this, not like I could.  
Summary: A clueless murder investigation involving a lawyer gets interesting when federal agents and the stepdaughter of the lawyer gets involved.  
Author's Comments: This is my first DM fan fic, so please review. *_~  
  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
A young dark brown-haired man sat motionlessly staring at the computer monitor on the desk in front of him. His worn hazel eyes were fixed on the screen where the face of a young woman with dark blond hair and brilliant green-blue eyes. He typed a command into the computer and after a few moments the words "match found" flashed on the screen. He hit the "enter" button and a name and biographical information appeared on the screen, next to a new picture of the same woman.  
  
"Well, well, if it isn't my old comrade, Mara Ivanov, or should I say 'Alexandra Katherine Mason.'" He mumbled to himself, his voice thick with a heavy Russian accent. He scanned the information carefully for ways to get to her.  
  
He smiled, evilly, at the discovery several ways to seek revenge his long anticipated revenge and proceeded to prepare.  
  
* * *  
  
The large office was dimly lit by a faint solitary light source, which was a small desk lamp. The desk, which it rested on, was piled high with thick red and manila folders, mounds of loose papers and other miscellaneous objects. The off-white walls were lined with antique mahogany bookshelves and everything was in its own specified place. A tall lean man in his early 40's, sat with his head in his hands, gray-blue eyes staring at the open folder sitting on the desk in front of him. Mondays were always the busiest days for him, and especially this particular Monday night. His work was frustrating him. He had a deluge of case reports to write before the end of the week and they were still stacking. To take his mind off of things further he picked up the phone and dialed in his stepchildren's number.  
  
"Mason." A tired, stuffy female voice answered. He suddenly remembered Alex had been sick over the weekend with the flu and was starting to get over it.  
  
"Alex? Could you do me a favor?"  
  
"Sure, John. What is it?" Alex responded much more cheerfully. Obviously she was feeling much better than she would let on initially.  
  
"Could the kids stay at your place tonight? I have more work than I thought and I may not be home until really late."  
  
"Absolutely. I'm positive that they would enjoy staying. And don't worry about them or Cascade. I'll send some over to up Cascade. They'll get dropped off at school tomorrow on time and I will pick Terri up early for his doctor's appointment."  
  
"Great! Thank you, Alex."  
  
"Would you like me to come over and help you out? I could help with the reports, and everything for me is really slow this week so far. You know the delegating cases to the appropriate teams only and Ian is dealing with that this week for me."  
  
"No, Alex. I'll take care of this, but come Friday I may just take you up on that offer if I haven't finished them by then." He didn't want to bring her to his office when she was still getting over that flu bug that had left her in bed all weekend.  
  
"Okay. Just don't finish it all. You know how much I love writing case reports!" Her voice was saturated with sarcasm.  
  
John laughed at the sarcastic comment. "Right. See you tomorrow, right?"  
  
"Right. It's one of my days to pick the kids up."  
  
"Thank you again. I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
"Tell Andrew and the kids that I love them also."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Alright, Alex. See you tomorrow. Tell everyone I said 'Hi'."  
  
"Alright. Bye, John."  
  
"Bye." John Powers hung up his phone and looked at the two, framed pictures on his desk. One family portrait taken before his wife had died and one that had been taken several years ago, when Alex and Andrew, his twin stepchildren, turned 21. He stood up from his chair and headed to the large window on the back wall of his office. As he looked out the window he heard someone come in behind him. He turned around but before he could see who it was he had heard the loud resounding bang of a gun and felt something tear into him and again and again. As he felt his life slip away on the floor his thoughts were focused on his family and the secret he and his wife would carry to the grave. John attempted to remain standing, but the act took the remaining strength he had and forced him to back against the wall and slipped into the inviting blackness of unconsciousness.  
  
John slumped down against the wall leaving a large streak of blood in the corner of his office next to the window with his head resting against the adjoining wall. His chin-length dark brown hair cascaded down, covering his now pale and lifeless face. His dark blue jeans were stained with dark blood along with his white golf shirt. The gaping holes left from the bullets were pronounced with the growing stain of his blood. On the tan carpeted floor surrounding the dead man was a large pool of blood. No one would find his body there until much later, when someone came looking for him.  
  
  
  
Next Chapter Coming Soon- pending the reviews  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Title: Revenge Can By Deadly- Chapter 2  
Author: AngelGirl28 (AlexSloan@paxemail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
Summary: See Chapter 1  
  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Early the next morning, Jean-Marie Picard, one of the firm's secretaries walked in the red brick building. She cautiously entered her boss's office to see if he was in yet, but not seeing him at his desk, she was about to leave when something out of place in the corner caught her attention. She moved closer to see what it was, knowing her boss was fastidious about where everything went, and as she got closer she saw a puddle of blood and her boss slumped against the wall, lifelessly, in it. This sight made her blood curdle and she screamed in horror and ran out as fast as her legs would carry her.  
  
Since she was not the first person in the office, Michelle Jacobson and Lloyd Richards came running in to see her crying hysterically. Michelle soothed her as Jean-Marie told her about finding her boss, John Powers, lying dead in a pool of blood. Lloyd checked out the scene and called the police.  
  
* * *  
  
Mark Sloan lay in bed. He felt lousy. The flu that had been going around had finally caught up with him. He tried to get up, but his body wouldn't allow it. He'd have to call out sick today. He was in no condition to stand up let alone perform a bowel resectioning he had scheduled for today. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this bad, but at least today he wouldn't have to face any administration.  
  
Downstairs he could hear Steve moving around, though running late. That was a good sign since he had been bed ridden most of yesterday with the flu.  
  
"Dad?" He heard Steve call up to him.  
  
Mark rolled over and buried his face in the pillow. He REALLY didn't want to get up. He heard Steve's footsteps climbing the stairs and head towards his room.  
  
"Dad? You okay?" Steve asked poking his head into the room and seeing his father in bed.  
  
"I feel awful. I think I've finally caught the flu that's been going around…"  
  
"Sorry to hear that. You want me to call the hospital for you?"  
  
"Would you? If anyone wants to talk to me just tell them I've caught the flu and that I'm too sick to get up and answer the phone."  
  
"Right."  
  
Steve went back downstairs and made the phone call with no problems. Just as he was hanging up the phone his pager went off. "Damn." He muttered.  
  
"Dad, I have to go. See you tonight. Hope you feel better." Steve collected the rest of his stuff was out the door, cell phone in hand.  
  
* * *  
  
Alex Mason lay half asleep with her right arm draped over eyes on the enormous black leather sofa in the massive pent house suite she and her twin brother, Drew, shared. She hated being sick. She had caught some bug while investigating their last case. She was now getting over it, but now had an enormous headache. Never go into bars during cold season.  
  
"Alex? Would you like some more of my chicken noodle soup?" Her very good friend, Jeri Williams asked. The thought of Jeri's chicken noodle soup made her stomach turn in protest. Lifting her arm slightly, she glanced at her watch and groaned as her arm dropped back down.  
  
"No! I don't think I could hold anymore down!" Another reason she hated being sick, Jeri's homemade chicken noodle soup recipe. Jeri would practically force-feed it to everyone and anyone who was sick. "I want my friends to stay healthy, but if they do get sick, I want them to get well quick." She remembered hearing Jeri tell her when she and Drew had caught a nasty virus when they all had first started working together 4 years ago.  
  
And so far no ones been sick longer than 2 days. Now if I had Mom's recipe… I'll have to ask John for it tonight when I see him.  
  
The phone rang loudly, startling her from her thoughts. Jeri answered it immediately. "Hello?"  
  
She paused for a moment. "Yes, they live here." The silence was almost deafening to her. "Hold on… Here Alex."  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Are you Alexandra Mason?" a female voice on the other end of the line asked cautiously.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, this is Sergeant Lauren Michaels of the LAPD. I'm calling about your step-father, John Powers."  
  
"What happened? Is he in trouble?"  
  
"I'm sorry to say he's been murdered. He was shot to death in his office last night."  
  
"John's dead?" She declared weakly in disbelief.  
  
Drew and Ian entered the room during her statement and stopped dead in their tracks at her words. Jeri stood with her hand covered her mouth with a horrified expression.  
  
"Where's the body?"  
  
"In the morgue at Community General Hospital, his body was found in his office by his secretary, Jean-Marie Picard."  
  
"I know who his secretary is, Sergeant. I'll be over to the scene with my brother and two co-workers in about 20 minutes."  
  
"Miss Mason, I don't suggest it. Its pretty messy over there."  
  
"I can handle it. I'm law enforcement and investigating massacre scenes can be the least of things to turn my stomach. You can't and won't stop us." She hung up the phone, got up off the couch and went into her bedroom with a sudden burst of energy. Five-minutes later she emerged fully dressed and headed for the door after grabbing her car keys from where they rested on the kitchen counter where she had laid them down the day before.  
  
"Drew. You're coming. So are you, Jeri and so is Ian."  
  
"What? What am I doing against my wishes?" Ian questioned humorously, finally broken from his reverie.  
  
"We are visiting a murder scene."  
  
"So I take it you're feeling better," Ian commented, trying to break the tension that was filling the room like a heavy fog thick enough to cut with a butter knife.  
  
"Ha, ha. I want to participate in this particular murder investigation with the LAPD."  
  
"Ah. So why didn't you say so in the first place!" Ian grabbed his black denim jacket and put it on. He then picked up three other jackets and distributed them to their owners.  
  
"What are you waiting for, then? Come on then!"  
  
Ian was out the door in a flash. "He must really be going stir crazy. Well, you heard the man. Let's get moving." They left and went to Alex's 4Runner.  
  
  
  
Chapter 3 Coming Soon  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Title: Revenge Can By Deadly- Chapter 3  
Author: AngelGirl28 (AlexSloan@paxemail.com)  
  
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
Summary: See Chapter 1  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Steve Sloan looked over the scene carefully. After questioning the three witnesses whom had discovered the body, he had come up with a list as long as his arm of other suspects. And he had a lot to question yet. Three out of ten suspects wasn't bad, but he had his work cut out for him this case. He had never seen a case with so many suspects and little evidence. It also didn't help that his dad was sick with the flu.  
A younger officer walked up to him. "Lieutenant, we should have a few visitors soon. Sergeant Michaels just called and to tell you that."  
"Wonderful, more obstacles. Thank you for the warning, Johnson."  
Just then four people entered. Two women and two men. All looked to be in their late 20's. "Identification please." Johnson asked them as he returned to his post by the door. Steve watched them produce badges and the look on Johnson's face told him that he recognized them.  
"Who's leading the investigation of this murder?"  
Johnson pointed to Steve and declared, "Over there."  
The four walked over to where Steve stood. "Are you in charge here?"  
"Yes. Steve Sloan, LAPD. And who are you?" Steve asked hostilely and showed them his badge.  
"I'm Jeri Williams," Jeri stepped forward and showed him her badge. "And this is Ian Grant, Alex Mason, and Andrew Mason." Each produced their badges as they were introduced.  
"Now to the nature of our visit, we have a very special interest in the victim, John Powers. I mean no insult when I say this, but I have come to see that this investigation is run thoroughly and correctly. Since you're assigned to this case I'm assuming you're one of the best homicide detectives the LAPD has. I have the authority to remove you or anyone off this case, but I hope that won't be the case. I could use the help." Alex said jumping into her role as the chief investigator.  
"I hope I meet your expectations. Well to the point, what interest do you feds have with this man?"  
"It's a classified secret, but I can tell you one thing. His case should be top priority for your precinct, Lieutenant Sloan. Who are your suspects as of right now?"  
"Just a list the length of my arm of ten people, all of whom I am trying to determine their motives. I have already questioned three of them."  
"I would appreciate accompanying you on the rest of this investigation. But before then tell me what you've got."  
"Not much, I'm afraid. I 'm assuming you haven't seen the body yet, but he was shot three times with a .9 caliber handgun. We've found the gun laying in the trash can. Prints wiped and it turned out to be registered to the victim, so that was no lead."  
"Damn! He told me he didn't want one, but I HAD to insist he get one and he finally gave in."  
"How well do you know him?"  
"That is none of your business at this point and I would appreciate if you would not ask me any questions about how I know him. Now, who's on your, supposedly very long list of suspects?"  
"Lloyd Richards, Nick Lawson, Eric Stephens, Jean Picard--"  
"Jean-Marie Picard," Drew corrected almost unconsciously.  
"--Michelle Jacobson, Juliann Sinclair, Laura Tyler, and Mark Powers." Steve continued as if Drew hadn't said a word.  
Ian started to wander around and poking into things causing some to spare a glare for him. "Ian! Get over here." Jeri called to him annoyed at him for causing trouble.  
Drew watched amused and spoke quietly to Jeri, "Let him. He may just find something."  
"I have to question them first. When I talked to Lloyd Richards, Jean-Marie Picard, and Michelle Jacobson they gave me reason to believe they all had a motive for murder."  
"Well, probably half the people he's known have a motive, being a lawyer and all."  
"That was considered at first but these are the ones who have contact with him every day and the investigation will go from there."  
Alex started to wander through the office, moving with the grace of familiarity and purpose. She stridded over to one of the many bookcases in the room to examine it. With the want to look closer she removed two latex gloves from her jacket pocket and snapped them on in a few seconds. She pulled out a notebook marked "Case reports- Feb '99 - Jan '00". And started to look through it quickly, barely sparing enough time to make a mental note. Replacing it back on the shelf where she got it she moved over the desk and picked up the top folder and opened it. Steve walked over to see what she was staring at in the folder.  
The first page was a sheet of loose-leaf paper with some strange characters on it. The handwriting itself was obviously written not by the victim, for the writing was much too neat and careful, as if belonging to a woman. She flipped the page glancing at several other ones below it with the same handwriting, and closed the folder and picked up the next one in the tall pile. This one contained a few typed notes and reports and was quickly set aside.  
"What are you doing?" he asked her curiously.  
"I'm investigating, if that is fine with you?"  
"Perfectly, but don't you think it was overkill you being sent in to investigate? The LAPD is just as perfectly capable of investigating this case as a federal agent is."  
"You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you what I am doing here, right?" she demanded her voice raised slightly and her words were as sharp as double-edged razor blades.  
"Yes. I feel I should know exactly why and whom you are when you are on my murder scene. For all I know you could have killed the man for something and you came here looking for it with those clowns over there."  
"You are one insecure man, Sloan, you know that. I could prove that I don't have a single reason for wanting him dead in the least, unlike most. The man had a wonderful personality, but you wouldn't know that. Now I think you should come with me and talk a little more privately if you want to have any more from me. I happen to know that all of the police in this room don't have the need to know our portion of us feds. Apparently if we are to work together you have to understand a few things about me and the others involved in this from this point forward."  
"Fine. Where is there a place you feel comfortable telling me?"  
"My apartment. I'll drive your vehicle if you wouldn't mind because my agents need a form of transportation."  
"My car? There's no way you're driving that."  
"Fine, you drive, but I warn you, if you ever try to visit unannounced you will regret the decision."  
Alex and Steve walked out of the office building wading in anger and headed for Steve's car.  
  
* * *  
  
Alex paced a small area of the mammoth-sized living room in front of the immense black leather couch that Steve sat on. She paused long enough to survey her surroundings, and sat down on the large, heavy-looking, marble-surfaced coffee table set in a beautiful dark-red wood in front of the sofa. She looked down at the marble floor. Steve studied her carefully, hoping to get an insight on this young woman sitting in front of him, with apparently more experience and authority than him on a large number of things. She was dressed in a black T-shirt, a blue-denim jacket, a pair of tight-fitting, light blue jeans, and a pair of black combat boots.  
"I'm going to get straight to the point. At the scene I was looking for my notes on the cases I was supposed to help John write the reports for. I do a bit of volunteer work for his firm. And that included decoding his notes and writing the reports. I knew John better than anyone you spoke to about him today, my brother included. We've both known him since we were two years old which was 24 years ago. You see he was my stepfather."  
"Now I am beginning to understand why you'd take such a special interest in this case, but I don't understand why you would be assigned this case."  
"I understand your confusion, but often having personal connections to the case makes your desire to see the murderer brought to justice stronger. And as to why the feds are in this, is classified itself."  
"I guess I'll accept that for now, but could you tell me a little about the suspects."  
"I would be happy to. First off is, John's brother, Mark. God, I hate that man… well the feeling is actually mutual, but that man is despicable. When my mother died, 10 years ago, he tried endlessly to get John to place Drew and I into foster care, but he refused to. Mark was against John and mom's marriage from the beginning, after he found out my mother had never been married to my father. He said, 'Mary is not the kind of woman I want in this family, I won't allow you to marry that woman!' It's been 23 years since then and thankfully I only have to talk to him every so often."  
"And what about your father?"  
"Don't know. I never meet the man. He could be dead for all I know."  
"So what about the others?"  
"Well Jean-Marie is a harmless woman, but has her share of problems. I can positively say, she could never kill anyone for any extreme reason, and neither could Nick. The man may be tough on the exterior but the man is a real softy and has a breakdown after hitting a squirrel while he is driving. He tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve. But Lloyd and Eric are totally different stories. Both are very secretive and are angered rather easily and you can never be sure what will push them off the deep end. Juliann is a very withdrawn woman and I personally haven't spoken to her much considering she reasonably new. Michelle and Laura are both very nice and are harmless, but could possibly resort to murder if the situation were that extreme."  
"I can probably assume you are fairly good judge of character."  
"I would agree with you, but don't take my word for it. John's kids are probably better at it then I am. Most of the time they are dead on with their feelings about a person after meeting them once."  
"He has children?"  
"Yeah, Terri, Jessi, and Shane, my half-brothers and sister. Sweetest little kids. When Drew and I turned 16 he re-wrote his will to give us temporary custody of the kids if he died or became incapable of taking care of them until they could be placed with a relative of choice. Originally they would have gone to Mark, but for the reasons I've already told you, he changed it. Could you be kind enough as to remind me at the end of the case to talk to my lawyer, so I can alter my will?"  
"It's as good as done."  
"Good. Why don't we go visit Mark now?"  
"Okay. Ready?"  
"Oh hold on. Before we leave I need to get Angel." She whistled twice and two cats followed by four dogs came running in.  
"Hey! Calm down guys. Angel, come here girl. Sloan, this is Angel, my dog. She's coming with us." Angel trotted happily over to where Steve was now standing and sniffed him, meanwhile her tail wagged back and forth happily.  
"Not in my car."  
"Then we'll take mine."  
"Didn't you leave it at the scene?"  
"Not my SUV, my car," She responded as if it were obvious. "You see I have to maintain several cars. I own a car, a truck, and a SUV."  
"Ah. Should have guessed."  
They headed towards the door and Alex plucked the blue denim jacket hanging up and put it on. And they were out the door.  
  
  
  
Next Chapter Coming Soon- pending the reviews  
  
  



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